In May we headed back to Cuba just over 5 years from my last visit. Given the importance of change in relations with the US and CUBA it was a really interesting time to visit. What concerns most visitors is how much will Cuba change due to the new agreement and the influx of US visitors. Well on our visit as you would expect so soon after the agreement there were no significant changes, but you could see that it won't take long for these changes to materialise. There were works on at least 6 hotels when we were there, some new, some were refurbishments. Many new rooms are needed, as we could see how expensive hotel rooms have become, and indeed we found it really difficult to hire a car for a few days. Our visit also coincided with a number of big events. The first was Chanel, led by Karl Lagerfeld holding a huge fashion show on the main street, Prado. It was the launch of their Caribbean-Infused Cruise Collection. There were a huge number of models, make-up artists, photographers, TV crews and visitors for this event. The second event was the landing of the first cruise ship directly from the US, which we saw in both Havana and in Cienfuegos. Finally there was an event involving a lot of the famous Cuban cars for a Fast & Furious promotion. No wonder rooms were expensive!
None the less we had a great break of 8 days spread between Havana and Cienfuegos. Here are some of the photos I took.
Ballerina
Ballet is really popular in Cuba and Ramses arranged for us to shoot a member of the National Ballet in an old Mansion. Very pleased with this shot which won our last monthly competition.
The Capitolio in Havana:
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What everyone loves to see, the Cuban Cars:
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In Cienfuegos the first cruise ship from the US was leaving and a group of Cubans headed down to see the cruiser leave, they were happy to see the Americans arrive:
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Something we tend to forget is that Cuba is in the Caribbean and has beautiful beaches.
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Finally a selection of some images for you to view.
